2009 Grand Slam Champions

[Yes I Would]

Sensational. What a great way to win a grand slam. It was better than a 50 point victory to win it that way. I did not think it was a penalty to Wales at the end so justice was done, anyone disagree with that. I though the game itself though was very scrappy and will make an attempt to do some player ratings. I watched in a noisy pub so they are my own opinions and might not correspond with what Hook and Guscott had to say.

15 Kearney - 6.5
Had a bad knock on before being subbed but was solid enough.
14 Bowe - 8
He has to get a good mark for the game clinching try. How sweet was that moment, after going in at half time thinking same old story and then to come out in the first 6 minutes of the second half and score 2 trys, the second under the posts. I was over the moon at that point, think Ray Houghton scoring against England in Stuttgart or against Italy in New York for an equivalent moment of great sporting importance.
13 O'Driscoll - 8
He began the turn around in the second half, the guy is immense and will be the Lions Captain again imho.
12 Darcy - 7.5
Gordon darcy is back from the dead, making breaks, making the gain line on most of his carries and has been under estimated over the years.
11 Fitzgerald - 7.5
Had a great break on the counter attack returning a Welsh kick that might have lead to an Irish score and solid in the rest of his play.
10 O'Gara - 8.5
For the drop goal and the kick that set up Tommy Bowes try, they were game changing moments. Had some hairy moments during the game but delivered when it mattered most.
9 O'Leary - 7
an erratic performance from O'Leary but that mirrored the game where a lot of players made a lot of mistakes, his kicking was a mixed bag, but you can see the importance of his strength and tackling when he went off Stringer got run over by Phillips to help set up the Welsh drop goal.
8 Heaslip - 7
Not his best game of the championship but a decent enough performance from someone who has become one of Irelands players strongest performers on a consistent basis.
7 Wallace - 7
Not the greatest of games from Wallace who slipped on a couple of occasions(as did O'Leary, Stringer and a number of others) but this guy deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as O'Driscoll, O'Connell and Wood. The David O'Leary of Irish rugby, the best back row player for Ireland of this golden era. It is not surprising that we win a grand slam when the coach who thought he wasn't up to it for so long is replaced by Kidney. I think if Kidney had been in charge since 2005 we would probably have had 2 grand slams and Wales 1. Anyway on with the ratings
6 Ferris - not on long enough to be rated
Great championship and this player has arrived and is here to stay, at last a big powerful ulster player on the team to give Ireland a bit of a physical edge that they may have at times lacked(think of Simon Easterby), as good as easterby was Ferris is a big upgrade in this position.
5 O'Connell - 10
To the best of my recollection, he destroyed the Welsh lineout and won the game for us single handedly. Little more needs to be said.
4 - O'Callaghan - 6.5
Must learn not to push Welsh scrum halves, could have cost us a grand slam but we will forgive him
3 Hayes - 7
The scrum did ok today and he even got involved in the loose play passing and running the ball
2 - Flannery - 7.5
The line out held up very well today considering all the other mistakes that were made during the course of the game, and was the basis for this victory
1 - Horan - 7
The Clare man srummaged solidly and was involved in a turnover or 2 in general play

Subs
Leamy - 7.5
Came in after about 10 minutes for ferris and didn't let the side down after coming back from a serious injury and getting injured against the Scots he grabbed this opportunity with both hands and will be hard to keep off the team in future.
Murphy - 7
Had a good clearance to touch and was the last man to touch the ball.
Stringer - 6
Got to the pace of the game straight away and started making mistakes, like everybody else on the team. Got runover by Phillips and got up to redeem himself and drag phillips down but the damage was done and Jones dropped a goal.
Best - Like  Stringer found it difficult when he came on into the white heat of battle, but he may claim the Irish number 2 jersey off Flannery in the near future.
Wallace not on long enough to be rated.
Court not on long enough to be rated

On wards and upwards lads, I can't wait for the next world cup, with the exception of Hayes, Dave Wallace and injuries they will all be there again. This is just the beginning ,Kidney is already a legend the real deal as a coach unlike EOS and it is going to be so good for Ireland to have someone like him in the "most important position on the team"

Would disagree.. For someone only on the field a couple of minutes, he managed to score himself a fat zero in my book for that act of stupidity....
All in all though fantastic achievement with O Drisc and O Connell immense, yet again.
Well done lads!

[milltown row]

Ireland looked dead on their feet in the last ten minutes but managed to create an opening that only Johnny Wilkinson bettered. as for the penalties, will its very tense at that time off the game. so much effort  put in to win the Grand Slam so lads will foul

i knew Jones would drop short. he would have had no energy before that kick, great atmosphere in club during the match

[gallsman]

Ireland looked dead on their feet in the last ten minutes but managed to create an opening that only Johnny Wilkinson bettered. as for the penalties, will its very tense at that time off the game. so much effort  put in to win the Grand Slam so lads will foul

i knew Jones would drop short. he would have had no energy before that kick, great atmosphere in club during the match

Yeah, but did Wilkinson not need 2 or 3 attempts to slot his over? Our ROG only needs one!

[Capt Pat]

Murphy - 7
Had a good clearance to touch and was the last man to touch the ball.
Stringer - 6
Got to the pace of the game straight away and started making mistakes, like everybody else on the team. Got runover by Phillips and got up to redeem himself and drag phillips down but the damage was done and Jones dropped a goal.

Are you serious??? All Murphy did was drop a simple pass when there wasn't a Welshman within 50 yards of him, the resilt of which was that it ended up costing three points. Phillips did not flatten Stringer, Stringer went to ground as that's the only way he could have brought him down and prevented a try after Phillips had already broken several tackles. O'Connell even said in the interview afterwards that he was the one who missed the original tackle on Phillips. Stringer also made another fantastic tackle (on Williams I think) and expertly controlled the forwards to set up O'Gara's drop goal.

That dropped pass was an over cooked pass by Stringer. Stringer missed a tackle on Phillips and then got up and tackled  him 10 yards closer to the Irish goal line, hardly the best example of Stringers passing ability. I saw that replayed a few times. Like I said I had no help from the tv people or the people in tomorrows papers, stick up your own player ratings so we can have a laugh at them too.

[gallsman]

Murphy - 7
Had a good clearance to touch and was the last man to touch the ball.
Stringer - 6
Got to the pace of the game straight away and started making mistakes, like everybody else on the team. Got runover by Phillips and got up to redeem himself and drag phillips down but the damage was done and Jones dropped a goal.

Are you serious??? All Murphy did was drop a simple pass when there wasn't a Welshman within 50 yards of him, the resilt of which was that it ended up costing three points. Phillips did not flatten Stringer, Stringer went to ground as that's the only way he could have brought him down and prevented a try after Phillips had already broken several tackles. O'Connell even said in the interview afterwards that he was the one who missed the original tackle on Phillips. Stringer also made another fantastic tackle (on Williams I think) and expertly controlled the forwards to set up O'Gara's drop goal.

That dropped pass was an over cooked pass by Stringer. Stringer missed a tackle on Phillips and then got up and tackled  him 10 yards closer to the Irish goal line, hardly the best example of Stringers passing ability. I saw that replayed a few times. Like I said I had no help from the tv people or the people in tomorrows papers, stick up your own player ratings so we can have a laugh at them too.

Overcooked pass? Whatever about the quality of the pass (I thought it was fine, the issue was that the three of them were so fecking static), there was not the slightest hint of Welsh pressure. For a player of Murphy's experience and alleged class to drop that pass was scandalous.

[Capt Pat]

he came on into the white heat of battle, but he may claim the Irish number 2 jersey off Flannery in the near future.
Wallace not on long enough to be rated.
Court not on long enough to be rated

On wards and upwards lads, I can't wait for the next world cup, with the exception of Hayes, Dave Wallace and injuries they will all be there again. This is just the beginning ,Kidney is already a legend the real deal as a coach unlike EOS and it is going to be so good for Ireland to have someone like him in the "most important position on the team"

Would disagree.. For someone only on the field a couple of minutes, he managed to score himself a fat zero in my book for that act of stupidity....
All in all though fantastic achievement with O Drisc and O Connell immense, yet again.
Well done lads!

i missed that are you implying that he gave away the last penalty, please expand on that.

[gallsman]

he came on into the white heat of battle, but he may claim the Irish number 2 jersey off Flannery in the near future.
Wallace not on long enough to be rated.
Court not on long enough to be rated

On wards and upwards lads, I can't wait for the next world cup, with the exception of Hayes, Dave Wallace and injuries they will all be there again. This is just the beginning ,Kidney is already a legend the real deal as a coach unlike EOS and it is going to be so good for Ireland to have someone like him in the "most important position on the team"

Would disagree.. For someone only on the field a couple of minutes, he managed to score himself a fat zero in my book for that act of stupidity....
All in all though fantastic achievement with O Drisc and O Connell immense, yet again.
Well done lads!

i missed that are you implying that he gave away the last penalty, please expand on that.

They had the game won and he came in at the side and blatantly gave the penalty way. He was actually standing at the side of the ruck, and just as the Irish appeared to be turning it over he stupidly stuck his hands in and nearly lost everything. Were you watching the match at all?? The camera focused on him just before the presentation and he had the most sheepish look ever on his face.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Pure drama. Jeez that match is the epitomy of what sport is about. Throughly deserved - I think Hook was right in that it was only pressure and nerves that stopped them pulling away. Shocking indiscipline too though for a couple of the penalties. Thought O'Driscoll and O'Connell were absolutely immense. Actually thought O'Connell should have been MOTM.

Anyway analysising a match like that is almost pointless. Just defies belief. Greatest day for Irish sport I can remember.

[muppet]

Pure drama. Jeez that match is the epitomy of what sport is about. Throughly deserved - I think Hook was right in that it was only pressure and nerves that stopped them pulling away. Shocking indiscipline too though for a couple of the penalties. Thought O'Driscoll and O'Connell were absolutely immense. Actually thought O'Connell should have been MOTM.

Anyway analysising a match like that is almost pointless. Just defies belief. Greatest day for Irish sport I can remember.

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssss.

Don't want to say much more than the above but just thanks to the squad.

What a roller coaster but we got there in the end. That was the most nerve wrecking 2nd half imaginable, O'Gara I thought had a horrible 1st half but boy did he come back in the 2nd half.

The big two O's as usual were phenomenal.

Other than those two I thought a very nervous performance was enhanced by the likes of Tommy Bowe, Marcus Horan, John Hayes and a solid centre partnership.

I thought Stephen Jones was a class act and didn't deserve to be the man who missed the all important kick. Nice to see O'Gara run straight to him after.

But it is all about us now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We needed that.

[stephenite]

'Twas something else - fantastic result.

Paddy Wallace = Luckiest man in the world yesterday

[maggie]

jeez, that was while tense.
Nail-biting stuff.
Deadly result though.
P.S. does jeremy dungbag guscott annoy anyone else as much as he annoys me?

[catchandkick]

Well done Ireland!

Kidney a legend up there with the great managers I've seen in my lifetime : Alex Ferguson, Mickey Harte, Jack O'Connor, Brian Cody - all humble and very intelligent characters , think thats their secret

Great day for Irish sport - up there with Genoa 90, New York 94, Stuttgart 88, Cardiff 06, Kerry beating Cork in 91 and Kerry beating Armagh in 06!

Comhghairdicheas Eire!

[cavan4ever]

Havent read back so dont know if this is posted but listen to the commentry at 2.40 on wahoooooooo

Forgot the link 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFbe7vvEqjA

Yeah WTF was Paddy Wallace at

[bcarrier]

Paddy Wallace and DOC luckiest pair of men....though Barnes not entirely consistent IMO.

Kidney is some man ...unbelievable team spirit and contributions from BOD/POC.

In my top 3 sporting evevts ever now.

[Dinny Breen]

Very hungover and vey happy to be an Irishman today what a way to win and what a team.